Friday, October 10, 2008

Maple Syrup

One of the things that struck me right away about vegan cooking was the amount of maple syrup called for in many recipes. It seems that a lot of vegan cooks rely on maple syrup to take the place of honey and sugar in recipes, particularly in baked desserts.

I love me some Fruit Butter Bars in the fall, but with the price of real maple syrupgoing up and up (along with most everything else), I just can't afford to use that much of it anymore.

It's very simple, made with brown sugar, a bit of cornstarch for thickening, and a spoonful of natural maple flavor.

I bought 2 ounces of the maple flavor at my local health food store for $2.49; at one teaspoon per recipe the little bottle will make 12 batches of syrup. I know it's not the real thing, but in these trying times it's sure a tasty alternative, and with none of the chemicals and preservatives of storebought imitations.

Great idea, I just bought a teeny jar (we don't have those big bottles here!) of Maple Syrup and it cost almost 6 euro! It has always been expensive in Ireland though, I've often suspected that most Canadians have maple syrup taps in their kitchen (and I've always wanted one in mine!) ;-)

Thanks for the link! I'm allergic to maple trees and on an unfortunate trip to Canada when I was 16, we discovered the "hard way" that it extends to maple syrup/candy. I always have to top pancakes/waffles/etc with fruit toppings. I was hoping it was an allergy I'd grow out of, but I tried a tiny bit of Maple 2 years ago and still had a bad reaction :(

Maple syrup production is centered in northeastern North America, and is commonly associated with Quebec in Canada and Vermont in the U.S. However, given the correct weather conditions, it can be made wherever maple trees grow. Usually, the maple species used are the sugar maple (Acer saccharum) and the black maple (Acer nigrum), because of a high sugar content in the sap of roughly two percent. A maple syrup production farm is called a sugar bush or the sugarwoods. Sap is often boiled in a sugar house (also known as a sugar shack or cabane à sucre), a building which is louvered at the top to vent the steam from the boiling sap.---------------------Ritaaran

the reason why the price has gone up, is because it was a bad syrup season this year. The weather was horrible. It would be very cold, and then warm up, and then cold, and then warm....which is not good for syrup production :(The stuff I get isn't as expensive (As it's the stuff from Ontario, which tends to be more watery...still good, but not the excellent stuff that comes from Quebec).And also, it's cheaper because it's closer to the source ;) (Right beyond my grandma's back yard actually!)

I love maple. This weekend I went on a mini maple shopping spree at a local maple stand (They're everywhere around me!) complete with a big bag of maple cotton candy.

I can't use the regular cheap syrup as I'm allergic to corn syrup some other corn products (which unfortunately means I won't be making this recipe unless I try arrowroot or something in place of the cornstarch). I can't imagine being allergic to maple!